


unpredictable

by chivalrousAmour



Category: Yandere Simulator (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, kinda sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-05-24 12:46:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14954957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chivalrousAmour/pseuds/chivalrousAmour
Summary: His entire life was a series of carefully mapped out plans suddenly falling to pieces and him having to deal with the fallout.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this was inspired by koumi's puppet clown pierrot video  
> please watch it here  
> https://youtube.com/watch?v=BaaAjarGl6U

Growing up, he idolized his sister.

It wasn't as if he was the only one. As the heiress to the all-powerful Saikou corporation, as an intelligent, beautiful, charming young woman talented in all she cared to try, there was no end to her admirers, open and secret. Everyone around her knew that she would do amazing things with her life given enough time to grow.

But, well, to him, it was enough for her to just be his older sister. He knew, just as everyone else did, that her future of greatness was set in stone. However, he didn't let that stop him from launching himself at her for hugs and demand to know how her day was before rambling about his day. His older sister always smiled down at him and patted his head, answering his questions with a few words. From time to time, she would let him drag her into a game of tag or catch.

As times went on, they saw each other less and less. He thought it was because she was getting older and more like what everyone thought she would be in the future. But, the day she turned seventeen, she brought him around town. They stopped by a toy store and she bought him a toy plane kit, then they ate ice cream together. Afterwards, she chased him around the park, grinning when she caught him. He laughed as she lifted him into the air and spun him around, feeling safe in her arms.

That day, as she held him close to her heart, she told him to live a happy life.

The next day, she was gone.

At the age of nine, he had to take her place as heir.

* * *

 

_"From this moment forth, you cannot show a single sign of weakness to the world. You will be surrounded by men and women who thrive by finding your weaknesses and seizing them to exploit them for their own advantage. Is that clear?"_

_"Yes, father."_

_"Speak up. I can hardly hear you."_

_"O-of course, father."_

_"And fix that stutter. Now look me in the eye and say that again."_

_"...of course, father."_

_"Stop clenching your fists. And straighten your back, it's as if you're imitating a turtle."_

_"Yes, father."_

_"Nowhere near perfect, but that's to be expected of you. We will continue your lessons at a later time."_

* * *

 

His schedule was full of extra lessons, training, and special courses. He was being made into the ideal heir, one who always knew what to do and what to say, how to handle all sorts of people and situations. One who never protested or ran away.

He wanted to, though. Wanted to protest against the unfairness of it all, wanted things to change, wanted things to go back to how they used to be.

But he was a child, up against the head of a company with power over most of Japan. What was a boy supposed to do against the head of his world?

 _('_ Run _,' his mind would whisper constantly, reminding him of how his sister had escaped their home. He would imagine escape routes, places to stay, even plans to steal money for food at times._

_But he could never actually do it. His stomach dropped whenever he thought of it, reminding him of how devastated his father was when his sister disappeared.)_

He couldn't do anything to change the world he found himself in. So, he changed himself.

He adapted.

He learned to be responsible, how to work hard, how to be strong.

_(Learned that his father was only proud of him if he brought good results.)_

Teachers taught him how to interact with others, persuade them to see his point of view.

_(Taught him to say what was expected of him.)_

He became independent.

_(Always working alone. Never speaking to someone who didn't have work for him to do.)_

Showing no emotions, he learned to be composed and stoic in all situations.

_(He closed off his heart.)_

Remaking himself into the image of the perfect heir, he grew stronger and stronger under his father's care.

_(He learned to never show weakness to anyone, no matter the circumstances.)_

Once he discarded his past and took on the role he was trained to have, life became a monotonous routine. Wake up, eat, go to school, extra lessons, lectures, dinner, sleep, repeat. His days passed in an indistinct blur, nothing to differentiate one day from another.

He only really began to think that his days were worthwhile in high school.

It started with a girl in his class in first year, though it started rather unexpectedly.

To start with, he hated her. It might have been unexpected of him. He was the cool-headed, calm, distant student council, so he seemed close to none and mildly polite to everyone. But he had his reasons.  

She spent her breaks with her friends, laughing too loudly, talking too much, smiling too wide. She forgot her homework, scored an average grade on all her tests and laughed it off, and was, for all the world, a normal, carefree girl.

He hated her, despised her, _envied_ the mirror image of the self he had destroyed he saw in her. When he looked at her, he saw a reflection of the person he might have grown up to be, had his childhood not taken that abrupt turn. A possibility that never was, never could be, but a future he would be living if she hadn't disappeared.

It was easy to avoid dealing with her. The student council president worked alone, studied alone, was on a level no one else would reach. He kept his distance from everyone, and everyone learned to avoid him in turn.

At least, that was how it was until she began to approach him. She asked if he needed some help with the student council. Seeing no reason to refuse her help, he allowed her to deliver some boxes to the faculty room.

Then, she got braver. She asked him questions about himself, favourite foods, animal, colour, his birthday, what kind of hobbies he had. She asked if he could help her with her homework, and stuck to him despite his attempts to shake her off.

He handled the situation with the grave and stoicism expected of the Saikou heir. At least he did, until she scared him with a mask and immediately after, asked if she could walk home with him.

"No," he snapped irritably. "You're a detriment to my focus and my work. Spending any more time with you will only hinder my productivity."

Grey eyes wide, she blinked in confusion for a second, before smiling at him.

"So, it's working then?"

"Ryoba Aishi, I will have you punished for unwanted harassment," He stated in an authoritarian tone.

"But you're always so focused on work!" She exclaimed. "Homework, school work, student council work, it's like you _never_ relax! It's like you've got the weight of the world is on your shoulders!" A sigh left her mouth as she frowned. "I just wanted to help you smile for once..."

He stared at her in silence for a moment, before clicking his tongue and walking off.

_(He paused to see if she was following him. When she saw him staring, she happily bounded after him. Ryoba blabbered on about school and things she heard from friends to fill the silence, until she offhandedly mentioned that her house was in the opposite direction. Unwilling to let her walk all the way to her house alone, he walked her there.)_

_(He got a lecture from his father for being late because of that.)_

The day after, Ryoba left sweets on his desk. After no small amount of hesitation, he ate them.

_(Of course, he washed and returned the container after, including a small note on how she used too much sugar.)_

Sweets paved the way for her to bring meals for him, saying she wanted to practice her cooking on someone whose taste buds were not accustomed to her cooking. Then they began to eat together, her saying that she wanted to see his reaction in real time, and then it became routine for them to spend most of their time together.

The only difference between the changes his father brought and the changes Ryoba brought was that, instead of becoming resigned to his fate, he learned to enjoy his time with her.

Ryoba spoke of mundane, everyday things. Rumours, gossip, anecdotes, morbid jokes she thought up, and her questions on the nature of the words "love", "sacrifice", and "guilt".

To a boy whose life, whose every conversation revolved around work and mutual agreements, the chatter was meaningless.

To a boy whose life, whose every conversation revolved around work and mutual agreements, those words were the highlight of his day.

She asked for his thoughts on her cooking when the last time someone cared about his opinion, it was to ask which production method would be more efficient. She learned about him from what he was and wasn't willing to share, managing to learn to understand him better than anyone else.

_(It wasn't like anyone else even bothered to try.)_

He learned much about her in return.

Ryoba Aishi was an oddity among oddities. She had a habit of grabbing a mop and bucket any time she saw the smallest mess. She could talk about love and the meaning of her life for hours. She liked setting goals for herself and accomplishing them, even if there were as strange as "run around the school very fast" or "find the best hiding places in the school".

_(Sometimes he wondered if 'befriend the student council president' was just a goal she decided to take on.)_

_(But, even if it was, he couldn't exactly hate her for that.)_

He quickly got used to her antics. When she ran around with a mop or a trash can, he just told her to be careful. When she ran late to lunch or didn't show up to walk home together, he learned to assume she was finishing up work since she fell asleep in class or doing some sort of self-imposed task and forgetting the time.

They were inseparable by the two-thirds mark of their first year, which was good, since the last third involved him being swamped in work. Juggling tests, projects, and student council work was bad enough on its own, but then the principal informed him that his father decided to hold an end-of-year-dance for the students.

_(He had a feeling that his father had decided that just to add to his workload. Whether it was a test of his skills or punishment for spending too much time with Ryoba, he had no idea.)_

Ryoba was a lifesaver during that time. Even though she hadn't formally joined the student council, she was often seen in their room during that time. She helped with their budget or handed out sweets to everyone to keep their morale up. When his increasingly abrasive attitude began to drive people away, she was there to drag them back with her disarming smile and her gentle words. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Ryoba and her powers of persuasion were one of the only reasons the entire student council hadn't fallen apart during that stressful time.

Though, in all honesty, he had only a vague idea of how any of them survived that. He was told that he passed his exams at the top of his class, got a rare nod of approval from his father, and pulled off a successful dance on top of that, but he couldn't confirm the last one for himself. He wasn't there.

Instead, he sat on one of the roof's benches, staring up at the drifting clouds with the tired tranquility of someone who hadn't had a moment of peace in a month.

He wasn't surprised when Ryoba found him. The dark-haired girl seemed to have a knack for reading him and predicting his actions.

"You're not going to dance?" She asked, taking the seat next to him like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"No." He fixed his gaze on the doors, avoiding her eyes.

"Aw, come on, Kai-chan~" Ryoba poked at his cheek with a grin. Had anyone else touched him or dared to shorten his title to such a cutesy, affectionate nickname, he would have glared at them or scolded them for overstepping their bounds. But, since it was Ryoba, he simply rolled his eyes and accepted it. "If you frown so much, you're gonna get wrinkles and look like an old man. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

"I don't particularly care for my appearance."

"Serious as always, I see!" She let out a short, chirpy laugh, before her voice became concerned. "But you've been working so hard, so you should take the chance to enjoy yourself a bit, Kai-chan."

"I have no desire to participate in such a thing," He answered briskly.

Ryoba didn't respond, only beginning to hum. He recognized the song as the slow, romantic song they had chosen for the end of the dance.

Clicking his tongue, he turned his head away.

Ryoba took it in stride, standing as she sang. She spun and twirled, her skirt flaring out as she sang.

She was terrible.

She forgot half the words, couldn't reach certain notes, and stumbled over her own two feet. Her hair hit her in the face several times, she sang off beat, and she was so, _so_ incredibly imperfect in everything she was.

But, when he glanced at her in her odd dance, she was grinning like she hadn't a care in the world. Like she couldn't wait to see tomorrow.

He wondered, not for the first time, what his father would think of her. A klutzy airhead, a fool, an unimportant person, perhaps. If he told his father the truth, there was no doubt that he'd be told to stop associating with someone like her and focus on someone who would be useful later in life.

He supposed that was part of her charm. Aishi Ryoba was so normal that she had no place in a world of restrictions and manipulation. There was nothing for him to gain from their friendship, not from his father's viewpoint, so them being together was a choice _he_ made. A choice made entirely for his own sake and his own wellbeing. A friend that looked out for him, worried for him, and wanted the best for him.

Upon noticing his gaze, Ryoba came to a stop in front of him. She extended her hand towards him, and with the sunlight illuminating her figure from behind, he briefly thought she looked like an angel.

"May I have this dance, Kai-chan?"

Her eyes were narrow with a trickster kind of cleverness and her smile spoke of secrets he couldn't dream of knowing.

_(He really had spent too much time going over business dealings, if he was imagining Ryoba with the eyes of one of those snakes.)_

"I can't."

"Can't what, dance?" She asked, blinking innocently.

Petulant silence followed as he looked away, feeling ashamed of himself. He could already hear his father scolding him for the quiet admission of vulnerability.

"That's fine. It's not like I'm asking you to be perfect," Ryoba went on without being prompted. "I just want you to be happy, for once! You're always so gloomy!"

He stared up at her like she had just overpowered every instinct telling him not to continue down that path, most likely because she had done just that. With his sister's last words to him echoing in his head, he stood up and took her hand.

"Don't blame me if I end up stepping on your foot."

"I won't, I won't! Don't worry about it!"

That turned out to be a lie. She complained about her crushed toes for four days.

* * *

 

"You're in love," Giseisha Satsuji, vice president of the student council and his senpai of one year, declared a week later.

"How is this relevant to our productivity report?"

"It's relevant because I can't stop noticing it. It's hindering my work," She retorted, placing her hands on her hips and cocking her head to the side. A catlike grin made its way on her face as she added, "And you didn't deny it, by the way."

He shot her a sharp glare.

"I have no time for these baseless accusations."

"Boo, boo." Giseisha pouted. "I bet if _Ryoba-chan_ asked, you wouldn't be acting like this."

"Just what are you implying?" He grumbled, managing to angrily staple the report together.

"You can't be that dense, right?" The girl bowed over his desk, staring at his eyes intensely. "I'm obviously saying that you have a crush on-"

He shoved the report in her face, pushing her away.

"Deliver that to Hisho-san," He ordered bluntly.

"Yes sir..."

Irritably, the student council president threw himself back into his work, determined to ignore the foolish notion.

It was impossible. He knew that, for one, his father would deem a relationship a distraction and order him to break it off. The only romantic liaisons his father would approve of were marriages arranged to bring benefits to both parties. And, as a normal high school girl with average grades, middle class roots, and no skills beyond an atypical amount of endurance and some persuasive abilities, Ryoba had little to no chance of ever becoming a candidate for his hand.

Not to mention the fact that she wouldn't want his hand in the first place.

Letting out a sigh, he pulled his fingers through silver locks. The thought managed to make the atmosphere in the room feel heavier in an instant.

Having a friend who spent time with him and accepted him, even if she didn't think of him the same way he did her...

That was enough for him.

_(But, sometimes, he dreamed. Of a world where he didn't have those restrictions thrust onto him, of a world where his father approved of his happiness, of a world where she loved him back-_

_But he always had to pinch himself awake.)_

_("Satsu-chan-senpai's weird," Ryoba declared the next day, stabbing at her lunch with her fork with a blank expression on her face. "She cornered me after school to give me love advice and tell me about her crush on another senpai... why does she think I need help getting together with someone?"_

_He decided not to tell her anything about it.)_

* * *

 

One morning, he noticed that Ryoba was tense as they walked around the school to check on the rooms.

It was understandable, to say the least. A suicide and two mysterious disappearances would put anyone on edge. It only strengthened his resolve to find out what was happening and put a stop to it.

He made a plan as he walked with her, striving to show up even earlier the next day to prevent anything from happening. Ryoba had showed up before him, already checking out the area by the incinerator to make sure nothing was wrong, and he just couldn't let her put herself in danger for other people's sake alone.

They passed by the stairs, and a pungent odor stopped him in his tracks.

Ryoba paled as he opened the door to the empty storeroom, revealing Giseisha Satsuji's bloody corpse.

He could hear his own heartbeat hammering in his chest, but that was quickly forgotten when he heard Ryoba collapse. In a frantic hurry, he turned and saw that she had fallen to her knees. Her eyes were full of a sort of empty brokenness and hollow tears. It was like she was too upset to realize she was crying.

"Ryoba, please get up, we have to call for help-" The words left his mouth in a rush as he tried to help her up, but she stayed glued to the ground.

Ryoba let out a sob, nothing leaving her lips except cracked and desperate cries of _'senpai'._

He quickly realized that she wouldn't be calming down anytime soon, but he didn't know what to do. He couldn't leave her alone, not when there was a chance the murderer was still around, he couldn't bring her with him, she was too distraught for it, and leaving the corpse unguarded was like allowing the murderer to dispose of it with impunity. Every second that passed was a second that the killer could use to escape.

He wasn't prepared for something like this.

"Ryoba," he tried again, kneeling down and placing his gloved hands on her shoulder. He couldn't find the words, instead just staring at her in silent desperation. "I- _please_ , I need you to-"

His voice fell silent again.

He needed her to be okay, to calm down, to stop crying, to pull herself together, but how could he ask that of her? If it was Ryoba's corpse he saw, he would probably be catatonic. How was he supposed to ask her to forget that, even when the situation demanded it?

Ryoba's face contorted, and she whimpered something about _'senpai's happy future'_. He couldn't even try to decipher what she was thinking, leaving him at a loss for words.

Her breath started to hitch and she didn't even seem to be inhaling as she rambled. All he could make out was that senpai was supposed to graduate and get married and be happy, fall in love and start a family, but now that would never be the case.

And then, abruptly, she stopped. She looked straight at him with eyes darker than the bottom of an abyss, and she spoke like she was completely crushed.

"It's pointless now," She stated, certainty and hopelessness and tiredness in three curt words. "I'm as good as dead."

He couldn't stand to see her with tears running down her face, to hear her voice so dead.

He pulled her to his chest, wrapping his arms around her as he pleaded for her not to say such things.

Ryoba didn't react to his touch, when before, she was the one pulling him into such things. When before, she was smiling, laughing, packing so much joy into her words that it almost seemed forced. He didn't know if that was the case. He didn't know if he actually cared. He just knew that anything, _anything_ was better than the raw, jagged hollowness she was displaying.

In that moment, he feared that she was already irreparably broken.

* * *

 

He wanted to protest against the unfairness of it all, wanted things to change, wanted things to go back to how they used to be.

How in the world had the authorities come to their school, seen a girl broken by the death of her friend, and accuse her of murdering the older girl?

_(That journalist. That damn journalist. That_ monster _.)_

When they took her away, his hands were trembling.

When they took her away, her expression was so empty and resigned that he wanted to scream.

But he was the heir of a company that had power over most of Japan. When thrown into such a situation, he had no choice but to go to the head of his world.

* * *

 

_"Father."_

_"Make it quick. I'm to attend a public address in ten minutes."_

_"Everything you've asked, I've done to the best of my ability. I've become the top of my class, learned beyond what my tutors can teach, and I excel in leading the student council."_

_"And?"_

_"I wanted to remind you of this before I asked you to help me."_

_"Don't be so presumptuous as to assume I'll help. You need to have earned it."_

_"Have I not done enough for you, father?"_

_"Becoming the best there is is only natural for those of the Saikou line. That is not a service to me."_

_"Then I would like to make you an offer."_

_His father paused, and he met his elder's gaze directly, standing firm._

_"I won't run away. I swear on my honour and everything of value I could offer. Your heir will never disappear. In exchange, I want her found innocent. I want a lawyer hired for her, I want the man accusing her discredited, I want anything that will help her chances."_

_His father stared him down, before he asked, "Is that all?"_

_"Yes. It's the only favour I'll ever ask of you."_

_"It will be done."_

_"Thank you, father," he said with a genuine smile._

* * *

 

It took days. 

Long, difficult days of crying, accusations, bribery, negociations, persuasion...

But she was found innocent, and the man who accused her would never be able to find a job as a journalist again.

He was glad that she was alright. 

The moment she saw him, she ran towards him and hugged him, loudly proclaiming that she was glad she met him.

He was just happy that she was smiling again. That she was okay and safe and happy.

She was happy, so he was fine with it.

Even when Ryoba told him that she was getting married to a man that had attended school with them, he smiled for her.

Ryoba was the only one person who bothered to befriend him, who enjoyed spending time with him, who earned a special place in his heart.

He never expected her to become more than that.

He was happy with the way it all ended.

_(The new married couple eventually started working for the Saikou corporation. If he was a tad more lenient on them than he would be any other employee, if he let them have longer vacations and better pay, well, it wasn't as if anyone had to know.)_

_(Their daughter started attending their old school. Even when the headmaster, even when his own daughter said she could not be allowed to remain in the school-_

_He remembered her mother, and couldn't find the heart to listen.)_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this takes place before the murder case, and i wrote it on an impulse

"Kai-chan, do you wanna head to the library?" Ryoba asked one day as they were walking home together.

"Why?" He asked in return.

"Hmm, I kinda feel like it?" Ryoba hummed and swung her bag around as she tried to figure out a way to explain it. "I mean, I think it's because Satsu-chan-senpai was talking about how she visits the library to see her crush, so it's on my mind."

"I suppose. I could borrow a few study books," he said, despite knowing that he was rich enough to buy the books for himself. It was the excuse he was giving his father. 

_(And Ryoba, since he wasn't about to admit that he was willing to visit just about anywhere for no reason other than making her happy.)_

Ryoba pulled a face at that, jokingly and lightly smacking him with her bag.

_(No one else in his life could have possibly pulled that and gotten away with it. The idea of someone other than Ryoba hitting him with a schoolbag, even jokingly, was so inconceivable that he couldn't even imagine how he'd react to it.)_

"There you go again, thinking about school work!" She groaned. "If I didn't know any better, I'd assume your one true love was work, work, work!"

"You know any better?" He asked with a raised brow.

"I know you love octodogs more than homework," Ryoba stated with a sly grin. "In fact, you love my cooking so much that you're willing to tutor a _hopeless problem student_  like me for a few bentos!"

"You're not hopeless, you're just lazy," he retorted, unwilling to say that he tutored her because he was worried about her grades, and that, honestly, the bentos were just a bonus.

"I can run more than you!" Ryoba exclaimed with a tone that would be mistaken for offended if not for her huge grin.

"It doesn't mean anything if you can't work your brain."

"Kai-chan, you're really mean to me, you know. I could cry right now," Ryoba said, her smile still plastered on her face.

"Your expression says otherwise."

"Well, that's because I haven't felt emotions since I was a child so I have no idea how to express them right," Ryoba shot back.

He rolled his eyes.

"Right, and I've got a dangerous interdimensional transport machine in my basement."

"Really?!" Ryoba gasped in awe.

"No."

"You jerk! Getting my hopes up and- and just, just, _lying like that-!"_  

Ryoba kept pouting until they reached the library, at which point she started looking around in awe.

"It's a library, not an amusement park. Act like a decent, dignified human being," he ordered as he dragged her into the building by her collar.

"Okay..." She dragged the word out, almost whining as he led her past the seats and tables and to the shelves.

"Don't make too much noise, don't bother other people, and don't make a random challenge of whether you can run laps around the room without making sound. And _don't_ start looking for a broom if you see a mess, you'll get us kicked out if you're breaking into the janitor's closet."

"Am I allowed to look for Satsu-chan-senpai's crush?" Ryoba asked honestly.

"At least get a book first. If you're staring at him from behind a shelf, you'll be mistaken for a pervert, a stalker, a creep, or all three."

Ryoba blinked at him, before heading off into a random section and returning with what was obviously the first book she saw. She presented it to him, hoping for approval, which he wasn't going to give. Because she was holding out a picture book with paper cutout flowers and lions on it.

"No one will believe you're actually reading that at your age," he stated bluntly. 

"But it's cute, I'm cute, why can't I look for him right away?" She asked, almost whining.

He just clicked his tongue and put the book away for her. There was no reasoning with her, so he just grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the section opposite the kids' section.

"Pick one," he told her, watching her oddly-adorable face as she went over titles.

And then she actually grabbed one, and he saw the cover.

It was an intricate drawing of a woman in a ballgown, embracing a man in formalwear as she stabbed him in the back.

He had never been more grateful that Ryoba was unaffected by morbid subjects than that moment when he realized he had unwittingly led her to the horror section.

Ryoba flipped through the pages, sighed, and set it back.

"I think I would be mistaken for a scary person if I read this," Ryoba explained as she grabbed another book at random. "Plus, what if there are kids there, or maybe my future boyfriend?! I don't want anyone to think I like that kinda stuff!"

"You're being too loud in the library," he snapped, trying not to seem too irate at the thought of him leading Ryoba to meet her future lover.

"Sorry," she whispered, examining the new book.

The cover was a simple photo of a woman walking home in the rain with a grin. It seemed much too innocent to be in the horror section, until Ryoba went to check the description and he caught sight of the figure watching the woman behind a telephone pole.

"So it's a romance!" Ryoba exclaimed, excited enough that he had to remind her to be quiet again. Her eyes were sparkling as she looked up at him. "It's supposed to be about a guy so determined to protect the woman he loves that he looks out for her on her way home and gets those who hurt her or try to defile her, and her realizing that he wants to monopolize her!"

"...can I read that description for a second?" He requested. Ryoba happily handed over the book.

_'Tachibana Ayano has had a feeling that she's being watched on her way home from work. Over time, those close to her start disappearing, with the perpetrator messaging her through an unknown number! He sends proof of his following her, and says he wants her to never look at anyone but him?! He claims to be protecting her from those who would hurt her or ruin her purity, but behind his pretty words and gentle smile is a blackened heart! Will Ayano be able to withstand this man's obsessive love?! Or, will he take heart in the words, 'together in death'?'_

He was so speechless that he couldn't do anything but hand her the book with a blank expression. Ryoba interpreted this as approval and grinned as she went to find her upperclassman. 

There were two thoughts on his mind as he went to sit next to her at one of the tables.

First, he needed to buy her a romance book for her birthday if she loved them so much.

Second, he _really_ needed to keep a careful eye on any of her potential love interests.

Honestly, if she was such an airhead that she would mistake a stalker story for a love story, who knew what kind of unhealthy, one-sided, obsessive relationships she would find herself in if he didn't protect her?

_("I think," Ryoba started off the next week, kicking up her feet as she walked, "that Ayano is a pretty name. I'll name my daughter that, someday."_

_"Just remember to never let anyone, not even your lover, treat you like the guy in the book," he reminded her. "Ever."_

_"I won't," Ryoba promised. "You don't have to worry about me."_

_"Good.")_

**Author's Note:**

> 殺人犠牲者 _Satsujin gisei-sha_ = Murder victim  
>  秘書 _Hisho_ = Secretary  
>  Kai-chan comes from kaichō (会長), aka student council president or chairman.
> 
> i hate how many times i used "he" during the story but whaT CHOICE DO I HAVE WHEN I DONT KNOW HIS NAME AND DONT WANT TO MAKE ONE UP FOR HIM


End file.
